Topic: Recommendations for Media Server / NAS

[Gordon]

99% sure I'm building a setup.  here's what I'm looking at so far

MSI 760GM-P33 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W PSU
AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

and of course a case to put it in.  also adding a 2 TB drive to it in addition to the 2 1tb I have now and maybe a 500gig for the os (WHS).  I have backups of everything and do not need any real redundancy from the server.  just the ability to copy anything new from the server back to my backup drives, and vice versa (preferably via explorer or teracopy).

that leads me to some questions about Windows Home Server.  so here's what I want out of the server.  a few tb's of music for my squeezebox or to play directly to my pc.  and to play tv/movies via my western digital tv live plus.  the live plus works using windows shares on my window 7 box.  obviously I need all my computers in the house to be able to access the server (xp pro, vista and 7 ultimate).

so reading up on WHS a bit it looks like you have to format every drive you include?  I already have 2 nearly full  tb drives that I planned to add!  of course I could format and then move the data back from my backups but that is a pain in the ass!  when they ditch the drive extender will this be possible??

also does the install really take 70 gigs?  I seem to think I read that the os drive can only be used for os?  I generally do that but if I use the extra 500 gig drive I have I want to be able to use at least some of the extra space. 

thanks for any info on WHS.  I pretty much got the build part down but the WHS stuff started to confuse me. 

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I don't use WHS. I use Windows Server 2008 so YMMV.

I have no problem adding full drives to Server 2008. I don't see why WHS would be any different. Just as long a the drive is formatted as NTFS you should be good to go.

I'm not sure, but I don't think Server 2008 takes more than 20GB to install. WHS might take a little extra for the bells and whistles. Personally I would install only the OS on one drive and use it for that...and maybe for temp files you don't care about losing. I will keep a copy of the audio files I'm working on the OS drive (I keep the masters on one of the secondary drives while I work on a copy of the master on the OS drive). I just find it's easier to nuke the OS and start over without having to worry about deleting files on the OS that I still want.

[Gordon]

thanks!  I'll look into server 2008 as well.  does it have the ability to torrent (utorrent preferred) from it on a headless machine? 

everything I've found for WHS says you have to format to add the drives to the pool.  it says you can add them without adding to the pool but then the data can't be used on the server.  maybe I'm missing something

as far as WHS goes is the utorrent add-in pretty straight forward and easy to use?  what about drivers (chipset, lan, & sata) for a fresh install?  my mobo only shows xp, vista, & 7 (32 & 64) drivers.  one review of the board said he had no issue installing WHS so I know it will work.

is there a way to run peer block on the WHS machine?  if it's a torrent box something like this is a must for me.  a quick google search talks of people using it but no instructions on how.  I thought you couldn't actually install programs just add-ins?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

I wouldn't get Server 2008 if I were you. I like the features of WHS much better. One thing I really like about WHS vs. Server 2008 is the ability to run Security Essentials on WHS. Anti-virus for Server 2008 is expensive. You can hack SE to run on Server 2008 but I've never tried it.

I only have Server 2008 because I get it for free. If I got WHS for free I'd be running it, and I'm considering buying it.

If WHS is like Server 2008 or Windows 7 drivers shouldn't be an issue.

Like I said I haven't run WHS so I don't know everything about it. Looks like I should do some reading myself.

From what I see you're trying to do  you may be able to do it all with regular Windows 7, but again I'm not 100% sure. I don't know anything about the Squeezebox. It's pretty easy to set up a folder to be shared on the network with Win 7 though.

[rePat]

If you are adventurous enough to try a Linux solution, there are a few alternatives.  In addition to the previously mentioned Amahi http://amahi.org/ , I recently ran across VortexBox http://vortexbox.org/   Both are based on Fedora and have some great features, both are Open Source and free, although Amahi charges a convenience fee for some of the One Click Install apps.

Good Luck with your server,

Pat

[Gordon]

should have mentioned that I'm not completely opposed to a linux solution.  that said by only limited experience with linix is using ubuntu from a live disc to get files off a corrupted windows install.

main reason I'm wanting to go WHS is ease of use from the get go and since it's headless a GUI I'm comfortable with.  I want my wife to be able to access the server from her laptop,  and know what she's doing since it's windows GUI   I need to know for a fact it'll work with my western digital live.  seems the linux solutions will but I don't think it's as straight forward as using windows shares to access the files.  I could be wrong though.

[OFOTD]

Sorry i'm late for the party.

Couple of quick things before I re-read all of the questions.

1. WHS is basically Windows Server 2003.  Most XP drivers should work.   
2. If you add a drive it will not be formatted UNTIL you add it to the storage pool.   It will function as a regular external drive.
3. Once you do add a drive to the storage pool it will format it.   If you have mostly external drives is it a bit time consuming but remember you only have to do it one time.
4. The utorrent plugin works fine and there is still active discussion on it.
5. Yes you can install 3rd party programs (i.e. AV software).  They don't have to be WHS plug-ins to function on the server.  But if you want to manage them from the WHS control panel you have to use a WHS plug-in.

I'll be back with a few more answers in a bit.

[Gordon]

2. If you add a drive it will not be formatted UNTIL you add it to the storage pool.   It will function as a regular external drive.
3. Once you do add a drive to the storage pool it will format it.   If you have mostly external drives is it a bit time consuming but remember you only have to do it one time.

thanks!  these will not be external drives but internals in my build.  do you mean they will simply show as external in WHS?  as I said redundancy is not an issue for me as I have many backups of everything.  just hate to have to format and re-copy two tb's worth of data if I don't have to ,)

just need to be able to point the squeezebox to multiple drives (shortcuts) like I do now and share my video files for the western digital live.

edit: if I'm correct about it seeing the internal drives as external does SMART monitoring monitor those as well?  and what are the options for SMART monitoring in WHS?  is it built in?  I use and love HD tune pro now.

[dnsacks]

Gordon:

I remotely access my windows 7 box all the time using windows remote desktop -- windows 7 works fine as a headless OS in this regard.  I currently have a bunch of terabytes, including a 6tb esata raid5 array, served out of it to other devices as well -- not sure what advantages windows home server brings to the table for you -- and whether these advantages would warrant dealing with reformatting and transferring terabytes of data . . .

[OFOTD]

Okay back for a bit.  A few more answers in random order.

1. In my WHS box I have a 500GB drive that is my OS drive.  The OS partitioned the drive in two parts.  One for the OS and the other for the remaining storage space to be used in the storage pool.   So its something like 100GB for the OS and 400GB for the pool.

2. S.M.A.R.T. - Go here: http://www.homeserverland.com/2011/02/add-in-home-server-smart-v1-6-10-28-with-usb-support-beta/    Problem solved.

3. Here is the latest beta (7.5.5) for Squeezebox for WHS:  http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/7.5/sc/32385/SqueezeboxServer-7.5.5-32385-whs.msi

4. PeerBlock does work.

5. To install non-WHS plugins you will need to have a monitor connected to your build.   Otherwise everything that is controlled by WHS is accessible from the WHS Connector.

[Gordon]

bit the bullet!! 


 

    AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX

    MSI 760GM-P33 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

    APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case

    NETGEAR FS105 10/100Mbps Desktop Switch

    XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC402 400W ATX12V Ver.2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

    ENCORE ENHWI-2AN34D IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wireless N300 Router / Repeater / Access Point: 3-in-1, 4dBi

    Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3/2GR

    Rosewill RFA-120-RL 120mm 4 Red LEDs LED Case Fan

    Microsoft Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 (new version) - OEM
   


4.5tb's of drives I already have.  total was $350 and that was with buying a new router, switch, & windows home server!  so without those it would have been barely over $200!

[rePat]

Ah, you should have went gigabit while you were at it!

Pat

bit the bullet!! 


 

    AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX

    MSI 760GM-P33 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

    APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case

    NETGEAR FS105 10/100Mbps Desktop Switch

    XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC402 400W ATX12V Ver.2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

    ENCORE ENHWI-2AN34D IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wireless N300 Router / Repeater / Access Point: 3-in-1, 4dBi

    Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3/2GR

    Rosewill RFA-120-RL 120mm 4 Red LEDs LED Case Fan

    Microsoft Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 (new version) - OEM
   


4.5tb's of drives I already have.  total was $350 and that was with buying a new router, switch, & windows home server!  so without those it would have been barely over $200!

[Gordon]

yea well going from my 54mbps router to a n 300mbps is good enough for now (even if I don't get that much speed)   the slower switch (100mbps) is only gonna have the direct tv thing (for multi room dvr) plugged into it.  oh and the squeezebox which does fine on the 54 router now.  actually everything runs fine hardwired to the router I have, I just wanted a faster one for the server.  the wdtv and server will be in the router for sure.

edit:  I guess the hardwired stuff now runs at 100mbps and the 54 is only wireless?  so with a N 300mps can I expect to see a dramatic increase over the home network?

[Gordon]

damn I think the router lan speed is only 100mbs so no advantage there.  may not need it after all.

edit:  ok is all I need a gigabit switch?   hooking that to the router lan and then all the network stuff (server, wdtv, and squeezbox) to the switch?  wouldn't that still only give me 100mbps since it's hooked to the router?

[Gordon]

ok triple post melt

looks like both the squeezebox and wdltv only have a 100Mbps ethernet port.  so the only only advantage to a gigabite switch would be going form my desktop to the server.  my drives are capable of speeds over 100mbps but not a whole lot more (120 maybe?).  so any huge advantage to gigabite since the sb and wdtvl don't support it?